4.The case of Ms. Ebtesam Al-Alsaegh, of SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights, was included in the 2017 report of the Secretary-General (see A/HRC/36/31, Annex, para. 7) related to a travel ban imposed on her and others for their cooperation with the Human Rights Council and the universal periodic review, in particular their participation in the thirty second session in June 2016 (A/HRC/34/75, BHR 4/2016). 5.On 20 March 2017, after attending the Human Rights Council, Ms. Alsaegh was detained for several hours at Bahrain International Airport by agents of the National Security Agency and interrogated at length about her participation in the Council; she was searched, threatened and had her passport subsequently confiscated.On 26 May 2017, she was allegedly subjected to seven-hours of physical and psychological torture while she was interrogated by officers of the National Security Agency, and sexuallyassaulted. On 4 July 2017, two special procedures mandate holders raised concerns regarding her alleged arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention in an apparent reprisal for her cooperation with United Nations human rights mechanisms (BHR 8/2017).6.On 13 July 2017 four special procedures mandate holders raised urgent concerns when information was received that on 4 July 2017, Ms. Al-Saegh was again detained by security forces who raided her home (BHR 9/2017).She was reported to have been held in solitary confinement at Isa Town women’s prison and transported daily to an unknown location where she was interrogated for up to 14 hours without access to a lawyer. There were fears she would be tortured and sexually abused. While in detention she went on a hunger strike on 12 July 2017.On 18 July 2017, she was charged under the anti-terrorism law and subsequently released, although the charges have not been dropped. On 8 August 2017 the Government responded that an investigation into the activities of Ms. Al-Saegh noted that she was associated with establishing the “Manama Human Rights Observatory” and was “hiding behind human rights activities” while supporting an operation that mpeded law enforcement activities and promoted the commission of acts of terrorism, including colluding with the Alkarama Foundation to which she was sending false and misleading information to bring the Kingdom of Bahrain into international disrepute.The Government notes that Ms.Al-Saegh was arrested on 4 July 2017 in accordance with the law and charged with “membership in an unlawful terrorist group.”The Government detailed the procedures of arrest, detention and treatment of Ms. Al-Saegh, including that she had been sent to the prison clinic in relation to the hunger strike.The Government did not address the allegations of reprisals. 7.On 25 June 2018 the Government, in a reply to the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, stated that Ms.Al-Alsaegh was charged with six criminal offences: affiliation and participation in acts of terrorist organization, spying for a foreign terrorist organization to commit terrorist acts, accepting donations from a foreign terrorist organization for committing terrorist acts in the Kingdom, funding and donating to organizations which knowingly commit terrorist acts, spreading false news that may harm national security and public order, andparticipation in a demonstration with the intention of assaulting security forces, public property and destabilising public security. A travel ban was issued against her on 19 April 2017 and lifted on 13 July 2017.

8.During the thirty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council in June 2018 it was further reported that Ms. Al-Saegh published a series of tweets highlighting a range of human rights concerns in Bahrain. An account called @godkingcountry responded to her tweets by making threats against her, including referencing the sexual assault that she suffered previously during her arrest and torture and threatening further rape should she not end her human rights work on social media and with international mechanisms. Following the responses from @godkingcountry on Twitter, a second account (@turkialmajed7) began sending additional threatening messages to Ms. Al-Saegh on Instagram’s direct messenger service, which was sent to a third party who was told to forward the messages to Ms. Al-Saegh. The messages claimed responsibility in the death of Ms. Al-Saegh’s neighbor and threatened Ms. Al-Saegh that she would share his same fate. The messages also explicitly noted to “inform Ebtesam” that they would publish videos taken of her while in security custody in May 2017 when security officers filmed her in various states of undress during her interrogation, sexual assault, and torture.

The 2018 report of the Secretary-General included references by multiple United Nations actors to a general context of harassment and intimidation against Bahraini civil society representatives seeking to cooperate with the United Nations (A/HRC/39/41 paras. 29–30). Those individuals included Mr. Sayed Ahmed Al-Wadaei and some of his close relatives, Ms. Ebtesam Abdulhusain Ali-Alsaegh, and Mr. Nabeel Rajab (A/HRC/39/41, Annex I, paras. 1–6; Annex II, paras. 4–11). [...] 4. On 17 January 2019, five special procedures mandate holders addressed allegations concerning Ms. Ali-Alsaegh and Ms. Hassan (BHR 7/2018; A/HRC/36/31, Annex I, paras. 5, 7; A/HRC/40/60, para. 75). Concerns about Ms. Ali-Alsaegh were in relation to threats, travel restrictions and criminal charges for her cooperation with the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council. During the 38th session of the Human Rights Council, after Ms. Ali-Alsaegh posted several tweets highlighting human rights concerns in Bahrain, she received messages through Twitter and Instagram urging her to close her accounts and to stop her human rights work, under threat of public defamation and rape. Her situation was addressed by special procedures in 2016 and 2017 (BHR 9/2017; 107 BHR 8/2017; 108 BHR 4/2016 109 ). [...] 7. On 11 March 2019, the Government responded providing detailed information about the situation of Ms. Ali-Alsaegh and Ms. Hassan, including related to the claims submitted to the Ombudsman Office. It stated that allegations about retaliation against individuals or family members for their human rights activities are not true. 110 [...] 9. The Government in its reply of 19 June 2019 refers to the cases of Ms. Ali-Alsaegh, Ms. Hassan, and Mr. Rajab. In the case of Ms. Ali-Alsaegh, it provides detailed information and indicated that she was prevented from travelling due to charges against her for “unauthorized demonstration.” Regarding the situation of Ms. Mansoor Hassan, the Government indicated that she was arrested in March 2017 on the charge of having taken part in placing an object resembling an explosive in a public roadway for the purpose of terrorism. According to the Government, over the course of interrogation, some of Ms. Hassan’s fellow suspects confessed to having made an imitation explosive and planting it near a farm. On 30 October 2017, Ms. Hassan was sentenced to a three-year prison term. Concerning allegations of torture, the Government indicated that no complaint has been lodged by Ms. Hassan through any of the national remedies, nor has she complained about not receiving medical treatment.

11. The case of Ms. Ebtisam Al-Saegh, a women human rights defender working for the NGO SALAM for Democracy and Human Rights, was included in the 2017, 2018 and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General on allegations of travel restrictions and terrorism charges following her cooperation with the United Nations, in particular the Human Rights Council. Ms. Al-Saegh’s case has been addressed by special procedures mandate holders on several occasions to which the Government has provided several replies. On 18 January 2022, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders publicly expressed concern at the reported targeting of women human rights defenders in Bahrain with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, and quoted Ms. ElSaegh. According to information received by OHCHR, in January 2022, forensic evidence from an investigation reportedly showed that Ms. Al-Saegh mobile device was targeted and successfully hacked using Pegasus spyware at least eight times between August and November 2019.